Is this as good as it gets?

I know a number of men who, by most contemporary standards, would be considered very ‘successful.’

And yet, a few of them have, sometimes after a few drinks, uttered something more profound than they realized. It goes like this: ‘In spite of having all this, everything I had hoped for when I was younger, I’m beginning to wonder, ‘Is this as good as it gets?’

In other words, ‘Is ‘all this’ all there is?’

If, by ‘all this’ one means, ‘success’ (which typically means, in one form or another, ‘money, health, things and status’) it all depends upon who you ask.

If you ask your neighbor, ‘Is all this, all there is?’ chances are he’d likely become uncomfortable with the question, replying, ‘Oh, sorry… I need to take this call’ as he upholsters a smart phone that must be on vibrate.

If you ask a fellow club-member over martinis whether or not ‘Is all this, all there is?’ he’d likely get offended by your calling into question everything he’s built his life upon.

If you ask a poor man, if ‘all this, is all there is?’ he’d likely say something like, ‘Well, I’d kinda like to find out!’

But if you ask Jesus if ‘all this is all there is?’ he’d probably begin by saying something rather coy, like: ‘It is because this is not all there is, that the question ‘is this all there is’ even occurs to you. The question answers itself.

(Note: OK, that sounds a little too Yoda-like, but you get the point.)

You see, when a man who has ‘all this’ decides to get honest with himself about that surprising ache deep down in his soul…

When a man comes clean about that gnawing boredom that ‘all this’ cannot seem to exorcise...

When a man admits that ‘all this’ is unsatisfying, I suspect that God is awakening him in some miraculous way.

For you Matrix lovers, think of it this way: he is beginning to stir within his pod. He is becoming aware that things are not quite right. It’s like a divinely placed ‘splinter in his mind.’

It has been my experience that having been provoked, some awaken to Christ and the adventure begins. However most, equally provoked, do not. When that happens, it saddens me. It reminds me of a quote by Winston Churchill who once quipped, ‘Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.”